This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 20, 2013 shows North Korea's Korean People's Army soldiers at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (AFP Photo/KCNA via KNS)

Pyongyang has issued a warning urging foreign nationals to evacuate South Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The statement was followed by threats from North Korea of “thermonuclear” war on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has warned all foreign nationals to prepare to
evacuate the South in the event of conflict. "We do not wish
harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war,"
Reuters quoted KCNA news agency as saying, citing the spokesperson
for its Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

The warning was read out on North Korea’s state television:
“all international organizations, businesses and tourists” were
told to “work out measures for the evacuation”.

The statement was followed by renewed threats of
“thermonuclear" war on the Korean Peninsula, AFP
reported.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a
thermonuclear war," Pyongyang’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee
stated.

No evacuation in sight

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged N. Korea to refrain from
"provocative rhetoric" and encouraged other countries to
exercise their influence over Pyongyang.

"The current level of tension is very dangerous. A small
incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgment may create an
uncontrollable situation," Reuters quoted Ban Ki-moon as
saying.

The Russian Embassy in South Korea said that it has no plans to
evacuate Russians from the country over Pyongyang's warning.

"At this point we are working out our position on the issue.
But our preliminary response has no signs of plans related to
evacuation,” RIA Novosti quoted Russian diplomatic spokesperson
Nikita Kharin as saying.

N. Korea issued another warning last week advising embassies
there to consider evacuating in
the event of war. Currently, about two dozen countries have
embassies in North Korea; most have said there are no immediate
plans to withdraw personnel.

Despite the heavy rhetoric, the atmosphere in S. Korea remained
calm with embassies, airlines, international offices and schools
with foreign nationals operating normally, Reuters reported.

China responded by saying that it does not want to see chaos in
the Korean Peninsula and opposes further escalation, Reuters quoted
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei as saying.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said that she was resolved
to break North Korea’s “vicious cycle” of having their bad
behavior rewarded with economic aid.

“How long are we going to repeat this vicious cycle where the
North Koreans create tensions and we give them compromises and
aid?” she said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “North
Korea must stop its wrong behavior and make a right choice for the
future of the Korean nation.”

The aggressive rhetoric from North Korea has motivated
neighboring Japan to deploy Patriot missiles batteries to protect
the 36 million people who live in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Two
Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile
launchers have been stationed in the Japanese capital, reinforcing
battery units on Okinawa and other Pacific islands, an official
said Tuesday.

The weapons were authorized to shoot down any North Korean
missile headed towards Japanese territory, Defense Minister Onodera
Itsunori said on national television.

On Monday South Korea said that nuclear support
from Washington is needed to protect against North Korea's
continued aggression and unpredictability, and to keep its neighbor
in check. Rep. Chung Moon-joon suggested that South Korea needs
nuclear weapons of its own – not just to intimidate Pyongyang, but
also to send a strong message to China.

The situation was worsened on Tuesday when North Korean laborers
did not show up for work at the Kaesong joint industrial zone
in the morning, effectively suspending operations. Earlier,
Pyongyang refused to allow South Korean workers to enter the area,
located a few kilometers inside the North’s territory.